It’s 4.32 am and a motorbike
throttles the neighbourhood awake
A sound so ferocious at first I
feared he was going to kill
himself and soon wished he would
Lying awake on this drizzly winter morning
I find no need to conspire global depopulation —
we’re fast culling the world:
49 troops killed in Ukraine plane
239 passengers in missing Malaysia Flight
111 killed by rebels in Sudan’s Darfur —
200 000 since the conflict started in 2003 —
1 033 000 violent deaths in Iraq’s war
Untold numbers died in Africa’s genocides
7 killed in Anand road mishap in India
41 plus more in a train crash
How many in the great world wars,
Korea, Gallipoli and Afghanistan
How many teenagers on our roads,
family members at each other’s hands,
victims of home invasions and rape
Add to it the airborne ebola virus, the AIDS
virus, deadly viruses behind SARS and MERS,
mine accidents, tooth decay, gluttony and life
And in that slumber, while drifting back to sleep I
wonder: Were there any grand plans for Eden’s garden?
© Martha Landman
Martha Landman writes in North Queensland, Australia. Her latest work has appeared in egg poetry, Beakful and Jellyfish Whispers.
